Walmart Foundation,
AIHEC, HACU, and NAFEO
Student Success Project
AIHEC Summer Meeting- 2013
Santa Fe, NM
Deborah His Horse is Thunder, Ed.D.
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Walmart Student Success Project
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18 MSIs:
• Six TCUs;
• Six Predominantly and Historically Black Colleges
and/or Universities, and
• Six Hispanic-Serving Colleges and/or Universities
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Train the trainer model – Mentor/Mentee
Institutions.
Purpose: Collaborative initiative to pilot and test
strategies designed to increase retention and
graduation rates at MSIs.
Phase I - Grants of $100,000 to improve student
retention
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Goals for AIHEC Institutions:
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Identify successful intervention strategies for supporting student
success. These strategies were to be shared with all MSIs interested
in improving the rate at which their students graduate and enter the
workforce or transfer to other institutions to pursue advanced degrees.
Disseminate and support implementation of successful intervention
strategies.
Build a community of practice among participating AIHEC tribal
colleges on student success.
Institutionalize retention and student success as a high priority
across the tribal college partnerships and assist mentor and mentee
teams through integrating student retention into their Colleges’
strategic plans.
Institutionalize implementation of best practices for student
success in tribal colleges.
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Walmart Student Success Project
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February 2010 – Official Award by the Walmart
Foundation
December 2010 – RFP for Mentor Colleges
February 2011 – Two Mentor TCUs Selected
(LLTC and IAIA)
April 2011 – Mentor Meeting in San Antonio, TX
May 2011 – RFP for Mentee Colleges
July 2011 – Four TCU Mentees Selected
September 2011 – Kick-Off Project Meeting of all
18 MSIs
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Walmart Student Success Project
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March 2012 2nd Project Meeting of 18 MSIs - Durham, SC
June 2012– TCU “Develop a Community of Practice”
Meeting at IAIA
September 2012- 3rd Project Meeting of 18 MSI on
Developmental Education- Denver, CO
December 2012- Final Meeting for Phase I - Santa Fe, NM
January 2013 – TCU Data Meeting – Minneapolis, MN
February 2013 – Phase I Ended
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Walmart Student Success Project
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March 2013 – Phase II Began
– The focus on Phase II is the collection, analysis, and
use of data generated to support the success (or lack
thereof) of the retention strategies identified in Phase I.
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September 2013 – Project Meeting with all 18
MSIs at KSU
April 2014 – Project Meeting with all 18 MSIs at
CSU in Fullerton, CA
July 1, 2014 – Project Ends
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Walmart Student Success Project
• Phase II
–One-to-One Mentoring
• IAIA and Ilisagvik
• LLTC and Stone Child College
• SBC and Ft. Peck Community College
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Walmart Student Success Project
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Strategies Identified include:
– Development of an Effective College-wide
Retention Plan
– Learning Support Centers/Learning Labs
– First Year Experience Class
– Student Summit
– Monday Drum
– Re-focus on Student Orientation
– Advising (1st Year; Mid-Term)
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Walmart Student Success Project
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Ilisagvik College (Mentee)
– Implemented an Orientation Program …
Each Semester
– Aggressive Counselor Intervention by
the Retention Coordinator
– Implementation of a Freshman Seminar
– Improved the Learning Center
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Walmart Student Success Project
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Stone Child College (Mentee)
– Improved their Learning Center
– Implemented Monday Drum
– Implemented Aggressive Counselor
Intervention by Retention Counselor
– Implemented Mid-Term Advising
– Established a Student of the Month
Award
– Established a Wall of Fame to
Showcase Student Success
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Walmart Student Success Project
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Sitting Bull College (Mentee in Phase I)
– Implemented a Student Summit
– Implemented Freshman Seminar
– Implemented Aggressive Counselor
Intervention
– Implemented At-Risk Advising
– Implemented First-Time Freshman Advising
– Re-conceptualized the First Year Experience
Class.
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Walmart Student Success Project
Fort Peck Community College
– Focused on the Improvement of its Learning
Center
– FPCC has restructured the process of its
admissions, enrollment and advising of
students. Changes are seen in a new step-bystep registration process and new registration
forms that create a check and balance to make
sure students are sent to and have been
advised by the correct individuals.
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Walmart Student Success Project
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Phase II Outcomes
–Verify successful intervention
strategies
–Support and Institutionalize
Successful Strategies
–Build a “Student Success” culture
and community of practice
–Increase graduation rates at TCUs
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Walmart Student Success Project
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Dissemination of Information
– AIHEC Summer Meeting
– Effective Practices Professional Paper
Series in process
– Posting on the Student Success Portal on
AIHEC’s Home Page www.aihec.org or
http://www.msistudentsuccess.org/Pages/MS
I_Home.aspx
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